Once again we can thank Gary Cunningham for coming up with a
new and exciting update. Gary forwarded a photo to me of the throat markings
from a Taiwanese M7 scabbard. The scabbard pictured is from the collection of
Tom Sciulli. I have handled dozens of these bayonets and scabbards but have
never seen one of the scabbards with the original markings intact.

Thank you Gary and Tom for sharing this information with us.

January 2004

I hope everyone had a great holiday season. Letís all hope
for a joyous, happy, peaceful and prosperous New Year.

This month wraps up my foreign Garand bayonets. Iíve
included the last four types from my collection plus one that was loaned to me
by my good friend Stan Tranquillo.

Turkish M1 Bayonet

My friend Earl Stanford of Savannah, Georgia first brought
this bayonetís existence to my attention. When Earl heard that I was putting
together the foreign M1 Garand bayonet display he brought along two examples of
this bayonet for me to include in the display. Since then I have found the
pictured example for my collection.

The Turks were masters at modifying bayonets. Any of you who
have seen their handiwork know that they could make any bayonet fit any rifle.
They were more concerned with function over form and most of their creations
were far from pretty.

This bayonet started off as a standard Turkish Model 1935.
The original muzzle ring was too large for the Garand so they added a plate with
a smaller diameter ring to the backside of the crossguard. The plate is held in
place by a single pin. The plate on this particular piece is very loose and will
move side to side. Other examples I have seen have plates of varying thickness
and most are securely attached.

This is a very interesting bayonet that is very frequently
misidentified. Iíve seen it listed as an Italian experimental bayonet for the
BM59 and as an Indonesian M1. It is actually a bayonet that was made by the
German firm Horster in the 1950ís. It is very similar in construction to the
Indonesian BM59 and Garand bayonets.

This is a very well made bayonet. The blade appears to be
machined and fine machining marks are visible the entire length of the blade.
There is a short, well-pronounced false edge. The blade and hilt are parkerized.
The crossguard is rather crude and has several deep gouges in it. That is
surprising because of the finish on the rest of the bayonet.

The grips are a molded hard black checkered plastic and are
well fitting. The bottom of the grips wrap around the tang. The grips are
unmarked. The pommel is brazed to the tang and the brass is visible when the
grips are removed. The top of the exposed tang at the point it meets the pommel
is painted black to obscure the brass.

The scabbard is a US M7 style scabbard that is completely
unmarked. The entire scabbard is painted green. The bayonet is also unmarked
with the exception of one stamping on the tang under the grips, "1a".

This M5 is a South Korean copy of the US M5A1 bayonet. They
were imported into the US about ten years ago along with the cut-down, heavily
modified US M1 bayonets.

While almost identical in appearance, this bayonet is
inferior to its US counterpart. The component parts seem to be much lighter in
construction and the overall quality control lacking.

The front of the crossguard has the model designation and a
circular symbol. One also has a three letter stamping that is assumed to be a
manufacturerís initials. A third example appeared to be unmarked but upon
closer examination it was found to be marked on the rear side of the crossguard.
I believe this was a manufacturing defect; the gas port stud was installed on
the wrong side of the crossguard and the part was used despite this error.

The plastic grips are a very thin plastic that seems to be a
bit softer than the plastic used for US bayonets. They are unmarked.

Two of the bayonets are in standard US M8A1 scabbards. The
third is in a US M8A1 scabbard with the fiberglass body covered with sheet
metal. The entire scabbard then appears to have been dipped in a thick green
paint. The original markings on the throat are barely visible through the paint.

This bayonet is a very close copy of the US M1 bayonet. The
overall quality of the piece is comparable to the US manufactured bayonet. I
believe the blade and hilt were originally parkerized but little of the original
finish is intact.

The blade is marked on the left ricasso with EN S over E_ US
with a flaming bomb. The left crossguard is marked K V with a five-digit serial
number.

The grips are very similar to US grips. The underside of the
grip is marked NOR intersected with LOC. I do not know the significance of these
letters but assume they are the manufacturerís initials. One interesting
observation is that the latch lever is marked UC indicating that this is a US
manufactured part.

The scabbard is identical to the US M7 scabbard. The steel
throat is marked J7265708 over M7.

This is the only example of this bayonet that I have ever
seen. I consider it to be one of the scarcest Garand bayonets.

This bayonet comes from the collection of my good friend Stan
Tranquillo. This is a great example of my earlier comments regarding the
ingenuity of the Turks. This bayonet started out as a Turkish Ersatz bayonet for
the Model 1890 and 1903 Mauser rifles. The original crossguard was removed and a
new one with the gas port stud installed in its place.

The scabbard accompanying this bayonet is just as unusual as
the bayonet. It appears to be fabricated from a piece of sheet metal that was
wrapped to form the body then welded down the side where the material overlaps.
A bracket is welded to the backside of the body for the web hanger to attach.

This is the only example of this type bayonet that I have
ever seen.

Thatís it for my collection of foreign bayonets for the US
M1 Garand Rifle. Iíll continue to post updates and new information on this
topic as it comes in. I hope you enjoyed it and found some part of it enjoyable
and informative. Next month weíll move on to a new topic.